Beef-truck cradle.



'0. A. PARKERSON, JR.

BEEF TRUCK CRADLE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 15, 1908.

Patented Dec. 15, 1908.

' W/ TNE SSE S CQRMWW 4 TTOBNEYS THE NORRLSFETERS co, wbsmumom n cy CHARLES A. PARKERSON, JR, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BEEF-TRUCK CRADLE.

Application filed January 15, 1908.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 15, 19 08.

SeriaI No. 410,944.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. PARKER- SON, Jr., a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of the Bronx, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and 1mproved Beef-Truck Cradle, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in means for handling the trucks or travelers used in slaughter-houses, packing houses, and the like, for supporting the dressed meat or other bodies from the overhead tracks, and relates more particularly to an improved cradle for engaging with the roller of the truck or traveler for raising the latter and depositing the same upon the overhead track.

My improved cradle comprises a substantially hook-shaped body, so constructed as to support the roller of the truck or traveler within the curve of the hook, and carries means for guiding the same onto the track as it is lowered, and the lower side of the cradle is so constructed that as soon as it engages with the track to transfer any of the weight to the latter, the cradle automatically turns to slowly roll the wheel of the truck onto the track. The cradle is provided with guides which are disposed adjacent the opposite sides of the wheel and serve to positively prevent the wheel from rolling other than directly onto the track. The entire cradle is formed from a single piece of cast metal, thus renderin it simple in construction and without auxiTiary parts to get out of order. Two cradles are preferably used in conjunction with each other for supporting the trucks hooked into the two legs of the carcass, said cradles being connected together by a spreader so constructed that after the hooks of the trucks or travelers are secured to the legs, they may be separated to a distance equal to the distance between the tracks and held there while the carcass is being split and is being raised above the tracks and lowered onto them.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures, and in which Figure 1 is a view taken transversely of the tracks and showing a device incorporat ing my improved cradles and spreading means; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one of the cradles, the wheel and track being shown in dotted lines; Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but showing the cradle inclined to deposit the wheel upon the track,

Fig. 4: is an edge view of the cradle; Fig. 5 is a vertical section, and Fig. 6 is a transverse section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2, showing a portion of the wheel in solid lines.

In packing-houses, slaughter-houses, and the like, it is customary to provide parallel tracks 10 and 10 supported from overhead in any suitable manner, and spaced apart a desired distance to receive the trucks or travelers which are secured to the two legs of the carcass. The trucks or travelers each include a wheel 11 and a hook 12, the latter there is no possibility of its going elsewhere than upon the track.

Two cradles 13, 13, are provided; one, a

left-hand one adapted to lift a truck to the track 10, and the other, a right-hand one adapted to lift a truck to the track 10*. cradles are pivoted to corresponding links 14, 1 1*, which links are suspended'from the ends of a cross-bar 15. The cross-bar is supported in any suit-able manner to maintain the same in a substantially horizontal posi- The tion. The bar 15 is of a lengthsubstantially equal to the distance between the tracks 10 and 10, the bar being turned slightly at an angle in raising it between the tracks. Af

ter the hooks are inserted intl-ie carcass, the I latter is suspended in the position shown in Fig. 1, and then split a portion of its length. For spreading the two cradles apart to bring them at a distance from each other equal to the distance between the tracks, and also for facilitating the latter portion of the splitting of-the carcass, I provide two bars 16,16 hinged together at the center and each having its outer end pivoted to a corresponding cradle. spreader bars are cut at a sli ht angle, and adjacent the hinge is a depending handle 17 and a spring 18, the latter normally tending to raise the'center of the spreader upward.

The adjacent ends of the two When the parts reach the position indicated in Fig. 1, the operator pulls downward on the handle 17, thus spreading the cradles apart to facilitate the splitting of the carcass and to properly space the cradles, and

as the hinge is so constructed that it can pass slightly below the dead center, the weight of the carcass overcomes the tension of the spring and holds the cradles spread apart while they are hoisted bet-ween the tracks and rotated to bring them over the tracks.

Each cradle is formed of a single piece of cast metal substantially hook-shaped and having a curved wheel-supporting portion 19 of such a thickness that it may lie between the opposite flanges of the truck or travelerwheel, and having a curvature substantially equal to that of the bearing surface of the wheel. Directly below this curved wheelsupporting portion 19 are two downwardlyextending divergent flanges 20 and 21, forming a recess 22 therebetween, which recess is of a width substantially equal to the thickness of the track. One of the flanges, preferably, the flange 20, is curved outwardly, so that the recess 22 narrows from its lower end upwardly, so as to guide the cradle onto the track as the former is lowered. At the point of the hook are two guiding flanges 23 and 24, each of which is cut away at its inner side to form shoulders 23 and 2 1", which engage with the circumference of the flanges of the wheel as the latter rolls from the sup porting port-ion 19. The innermost surface of the recess 22, intermediate the two flanges 20 and 21, curve upwardly toward the point of the hook, as indicated by the dotted lines in Figs. 2 and 3; this curve terminates at the upper surface of the supporting portion 15) at a line 25 intermediate the two flanges 23 and 241, and spaced from the two shoulders 23 and 2 1 a radial distance slightly greater than the radial depth of the flange on the Wheel. As the cradle with the tread of the wheel of the truck resting on the curved portion 19 is lowered, the flanges 20 and 21 engage with the opposite sides of the track and guide the cradle downwardly until the track reaches the innermost portion of the recess 22.

As the weight carried by the wheel is transmitted from the links to the track, the cradle naturally tends to tip or tilt from the position shown in Fig. 2 over toward the left. As the distance from the innermost portion of the recess to the top surface of the curved portion 19 decreases toward the point, the cradle continues its tipping action and the wheel rolls along the surface 19 until the point 25 is adjacent the track, at which time the wheel will pass onto the track. The flanges of the wheel pass between the two flanges 28 and 24:, and above the shoulders 23 and 24 and any side movement or twisting of the wheel is positively connected together and tipped or tilted si-- multaneously to transfer both trucks to the track at the same time. The spreader also serves to prevent any rotation of the cradle about a vertical axis, whereby as the cradle is lowered, the flanges 20 and 21 come parallel to the track rather than at an angle to it, as might be the case could each cradle rotate.

The specific cradle illustrated may be used in connection with a single truck or traveler for transmitting any box, package, or the like, along a. single track.

The specific structural features of the cradle are not dependent for their advantages upon the use of cradles in pairs, or the use of the device for hoisting carcasses in slaughter-houses and the like.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A cradle for placing trucks or travelers on trucks, comprising a body portion having a curved surface for engaging with the wheel of the truck or traveler beneath the axis thereof for supporting the same, depending portions serving as guides to direct the cradle onto the track, the surface intermediate said depending portions being curved to tilt or incline the cradle and said curved surface terminating at said curved supporting surface, and upwardly-extending portions adjacent the line of intersection for guiding said wheel as it rolls onto the track.

2. A cradle for placing trucks or travelers on tracks, comprising a single substantially hook-shaped member formed of a single piece of rigid material and having a body portion curved for engaging with the wheel of the truck or traveler beneath the axis thereof for supporting the same, and de pending portions serving as guides to direct the cradle onto the track, the surface intermediate said depending portions being curved to tilt or incline the cradle, whereby the wheel may roll ofi of the curved supporting surface onto the track.

3. A cradle for placing trucks or travelers on tracks, comprising a hook-shaped member having a curved upper surface on the inner face of its lower end for engaging with the wheel of the truck or traveler beneath the axis thereof and supporting the same, depending guides for directing the cradle onto the track, and upwardly-extending guides at one end thereof for directing the wheel onto the track as it rolls from said supporting surface to said cradle.

4. A cradle for placing trucks or travelers on tracks, comprising a single substantially hook-shaped member having the body portion thereof presenting a curved upper surface on the inner face of its lower end for engaging with the wheel of the truck or traveler beneath the axis thereof to support the same, and having a curved under surface intersecting the first-mentioned curved surface and adapted, to engage with the track and rock thereon to roll the wheel from the first-mentioned curved surface.

5. A cradle for placing trucks or travelers on tracks, comprising a single substantially hook-shaped member having the body portion thereof presenting a curved upper surface on the inner face of its lower end for engaging with the wheel of the truck or traveler beneath the axis thereof to support the same, and having a curved under surface intersecting the first-mentioned curved surface and adapted to engage with the track and rock thereon to roll the wheel from the first-mentioned curved surface, and

upwardly-extending guides adjacent the line of intersection between said curved surfaces for directing the wheel onto the track as it rolls from the cradle.

6. In combination, two tracks, travelers adapted to be placed thereon, a verticallylnovable supporting bar, a cradle suspended from each end of said bar and adapted to support said travelers, a spreader for moving said cradles laterally to bring them over their respective tracks, said spreader comprising two bars having their adjacent ends hinged together and having their outer ends pivoted to said cradles, a handle for depressing the hinged ends, and a spring normally resisting this depression.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES A. PARKERSON, JR.

Witnesses:

CLAIR W. F AIRBANK, EVERARD B. MARsHALL. 

